On the evening of April 1, 2025, the Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech) boys volleyball team geared up to face up against their league opponents from the Dunn School (Dunn). Within an hour of the first serve, the culmination of Foothill Tech’s strong offense and uniform defense handily defeated Dunn in a dominant 3-0 victory.
Foothill Tech established an early lead with two consecutive aces from Elijah Haigh ‘25 and plays from Jayden Wallace ‘25 and Styles Haley-Kettler ‘28 to bring the score to 10-2. Wallace went onto serve up five aces which, combined with additional points from the Dragon offense, increased their lead to 20-4.
Dunn struggled in the final points as kills from Tyler Nelsen ‘25 and Haigh sealed a dominant 25-5 first set victory for Foothill Tech.
The second set started similarly to the first, with Haigh serving an ace and several offensive plays allowing Foothill Tech to take an early 7-1 lead. Dunn mounted a response and was able to string together five points to bring the score to 7-6.
Both teams exchanged points until Foothill Tech regained momentum with a nine-point run, extending their lead to 22-10. It was only a matter of time before Foothill Tech took the set, the last kill coming from Jack Marshall ‘25, 25-12.
The third set started with Foothill Tech taking an early lead of 3-0. However, Dunn responded, tying the score at 4-4 as they were able to capitalize on small errors made by the Dragon defense.
Dunn’s errors mounted, however, allowing Foothill Tech to pull ahead 10-6. Foothill Tech then went on an eight-point scoring spree spearheaded by Haley-Kettler, who served up six aces in the span of the run bringing the score to 18-7.
Haley Kettler described his mental state when serving, stating, “I just try to stay focused and not let anything distract me when serving … I like to visualize the ball going to the spot I want it to.”
Dunn and Foothill Tech went back-and-forth before a spike from Haigh, trick play by Nelsen, and a kill from Colton Salles ‘27 secured the third set and the win.
Head Coach David Benedik commented on the game and playoff aspirations, stating, “We came into this game with the mentality that this is the home stretch of our season. If we can finish these last three league games and win them all, we have a really good chance of making the playoffs … it will be a struggle but I know if we play our best volleyball we can get those wins for sure.”
Foothill Tech will face The Cate School (Cate) on April 10, 2025, aiming to build on this victory and strengthen their California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) playoff bid.
